1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a thermal module connection structure, and more particularly to a thermal module connection structure, which is convenient to install/uninstall and is manufactured at lower cost.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, along with the rapid advance of computer sciences and technologies, the operation speed of a computer has become faster and faster. Accordingly, the heat generation power of the electronic components inside the computer case has become higher and higher. In case of overheating of the electronic components inside the computer case, the electronic components will temporarily or even permanently fail. Therefore, it is critical to efficiently dissipate the heat generated by the electronic components inside the computer case.
With a central processing unit (CPU) taken as an example, in case that the temperature of the CPU rises to exceed a normal working temperature range, the CPU is very likely to malfunction and temporarily fail. This will lead to crash of the computer case. Moreover, in case that the temperature of the CPU is much higher than the normal working temperature range, the transistors inside the CPU chip may even damage. Under such circumstance, the CPU will permanently fail. In this case, it is necessary to replace the CPU so as to restore the computer case to the normal operation state.
A conventional thermal module mainly includes two parts, that is, a heat sink and a cooling fan. The heat sink has two heat contact faces. The first heat contact face is a heat conduction face between the heat generation electronic component and the bottom of the heat sink. The second heat contact face is a heat convection face between the radiating fins of the heat sink and the cooling fan. In order to achieve maximum heat conduction efficiency, the bottom of the heat sink must tightly attach to the heat generation electronic component without any gap between the bottom of the heat sink and the heat generation electronic component. Otherwise, no matter how high the performance of the thermal module is, the heat dissipation efficiency will be deteriorated.
The thermal module is generally securely fixed on the heat generation electronic component by means of a latch device. The latch device is able to make the bottom of the heat sink in tight contact with the heat generation electronic component so as to achieve maximum heat conduction efficiency. Please refer to FIGS. 1A and 1B. FIG. 1A is a perspective exploded view of a conventional thermal module connection structure. FIG. 1B is a perspective assembled view of the conventional thermal module connection structure. The thermal module connection structure includes a substrate 90. A heat generation electronic component 91 is disposed on one face of the substrate 90. A heat dissipation unit 92 is attached to the heat generation electronic component 91 for dissipating the heat generated by the heat generation electronic component 91. The thermal module connection structure further includes a latch member 93. Each of two ends of the latch member 93 is formed with at least one perforation 931. Two opposite sides of the substrate 90 are provided with raised sections 901. The raised sections 901 are assembled with the perforations 931 of the latch member 93 so as to latch the heat dissipation unit 92 with the heat generation electronic component 91.
The conventional latch member has a complicated structure. Moreover, all the parts of the conventional thermal module connection structure must be independently manufactured with different molds and then assembled. The costs for the equipment, the material and the labor are quite high. Especially, different manufacturers manufacture different specifications of heat generation electronic components and package the heat generation electronic components by means of different techniques. Different latch members require different latching pressure and cannot be commonly used. In the case that a specific latch member is installed on thermal module with a different specification, the heat generation electronic component is often damaged. That is, with respect to different specifications of heat generation electronic components, different specifications of latch members in adaptation to the heat generation electronic components must be respectively manufactured with different molds. Therefore, the manufacturing cost is increased and the manufacturing process is complicated. Moreover, the difficulty in assembling the latch member is increased. Also, it is hard to install the latch member. When installed, an operator must first place the heat dissipation unit (heat sink) onto the heat generation electronic component and then use the latch member and other retainer members one by one to latch and connect the heat dissipation unit with the heat generation electronic component. When uninstalled, it is necessary to reversely detach the latch member and the retainer members one by one. This causes great inconvenience and trouble in use and installation of the thermal module.
According to the above, the conventional thermal module connection structure has the following shortcomings:    1. It is quite inconvenient to install/uninstall the thermal module.    2. The manufacturing cost for the conventional thermal module connection structure is higher.    3. The conventional thermal module connection structure cannot be commonly used.